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First published online 20 March 2007
doi: 10.1242/jcs.004291

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Fertilization in mouse does not require terminal galactose or N-acetylglucosamine on the zona pellucida glycans

Suzannah A. Williams^1,*, Lijun Xia^2,3,*, Richard D. Cummings^3,, Rodger P. McEver^2,3 and Pamela Stanley^1,

¹ Department of Cell Biology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York, NY 10461, USA
² Cardiovascular Biology Research Program, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA
³ Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Oklahoma Center for Medical Glycobiology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center, Oklahoma City, OK 73104, USA

Author for correspondence (e-mail: stanley{at}aecom.yu.edu)

Accepted 13 February 2007

Fertilization in mammals requires sperm to bind to the zona pellucida (ZP) that surrounds the egg. Galactose (Gal) or N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) residues on the glycans of ZP protein 3 (ZP3) have been implicated as mouse sperm receptors. However, Mgat1^–/– eggs with modified N-glycans lacking terminal Gal and GlcNAc residues are fertilized. To determine if Gal and GlcNAc on O-glycans of the ZP are required for fertilization, a conditional allele of the T-synthase gene (T-syn^F) was generated. T-syn encodes core 1 1,3-galactosyltransferase 1 (T-synthase), which initiates the synthesis of core-1-derived O-glycans, the only O-glycans on mouse ZP3. T-syn^F/F:ZP3Cre females in which T-syn^F was deleted at the beginning of oogenesis generated eggs lacking core-1-derived O-glycans. Nevertheless, T-syn^F/F:ZP3Cre females were fertile and their eggs bound sperm similarly to controls. In addition, T-syn^–/– embryos generated from T-syn null eggs developed until E12.5. Thus, core-1-derived O-glycans are not required for blastogenesis, implantation, or development prior to midgestation. Moreover, T-syn^–/–Mgat1^–/– eggs lacking complex and hybrid N-glycans as well as core-1-derived O-glycans were fertilized. The combined data show that mouse ZP3 does not require terminal Gal or GlcNAc on either N- or O-glycans for fertilization.

Key words: Fertilization, Zona pelucida, O-glycans, N-glycans, T-synthase

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